Friday, July 9, 2010

Looking at a penguin standing or waddling around on the island it may look like they have very short legs and no knees.

But yes, penguins do have knees!

A penguin’s leg is composed of a short femur, knee, tibia and fibula. The upper leg bones are not visible as they are covered in feathers giving penguins a very short legged appearance. Here you can compare the leg of a penguin skeleton to a model of a human skeleton.

Take at look at these x-rays of one of our penguins and you can see the leg bones, including the knee joint and how most of it is covered in the penguin’s body.

Perhaps their ancestors lived in a warmer climate. They may have also been much thinner. So hypothetically if their ancestors were in a warmer climate and were thinner those legs could have been used for standing in shallow waters to hunt for food.

Thanks for the x-rays and the standing skeleton. It appears that penguins' legs are more structurally similar to ours than any other avian. The bones are quite thin, but penguins have no need for the more robust femurs, tibias and fibulas; or hip, knee, and ankle joints as we. They make their living in the oceans, standing to enhance their vigil against predators while roosting (warming their eggs) on land. Also, going bipedal-upright allows them to "walk" up the slope of the beach with great dignity as they emerge from the surf. Go Penguins!

perhaps having such a lengthy coverage of feathers over their knees is beneficial in incubating their eggs. It seems it would offer insulation and protection in a harsh environment, and I believe parents share in the responsibility of incubation.

LoL! + Does anyone know if pigeons have any knees at all ???, I obviously would not be able to sleep if I do not find out LoL!, btw thanks if you do manage finding the answer + Good Luck! You Might Need It. Also, may I say a really Big Thank You, to whoever found This Information.

Yes, but because of the way the pigeon's legs are built they're up near and under the feathers. What lots of folks (including one answerer here) believe are the "knees" going "backwards" are actually the birds "heels". The easiest way to visualize it is to stand on your tiptoes. When you do that (which is what all birds do), then your heel is now pointed "backwards"; pretend that you knee is now up in your feathers nearer your torso and you have what a pigeon does. So, yes, they do have "knees".